Hexanal Test

Our standard turnaround time is 10 business days for most assays. There are some assays that require a longer turnaround time. We also offer a RUSH service that is half the time of the standard turnaround time of the assay at double the cost of the assay. A few assays that we provide cannot be rushed due to the nature of the test. Please check the specific assay you are interested in regarding the ability to RUSH the turnaround time.

Medallion offers Hex-200 and reports Hexanal in ppm.

Limit of Quantification is 0.300ppm to 50.0ppm meaning our range of reportable values for results is between 0.300-50.0ppm. The method’s limit of detection (LOD) is 0.09ppm. This means that the method can calculate values (detect) as low as 0.09ppm, however, when a result is less than 0.300ppm, the lab reports “<0.300ppm” which again is the method’s LOQ.

Anytime the Hexanal amount of a sample is wanted, the sample should be immediately stored in the freezer (-20C). This helps preserve the Hexanal already in the sample and prevents more hexanal from forming. Freezing the sample as soon as possible from when testing is decided keeps the sample in the current “state” that the customer is looking for when they decided to submit for testing. Many samples are tested over a specific time-period for Hexanal, sometimes over many weeks and each sample pull the customer does for testing should be always done the same way for fair comparisons of all results over time. Shipping during summer months when the outside temperature gets hot will cause the sample to generate more hexanal than if the sample was stored at a more reasonable temperature, even at room temp though the sample is subject to more hexanal generation over time.

Any chemical with a molecular structure like that of Hexanal will influence the detection of Hexanal by co-eluting and/or causing interferences due to the way the instrumentation for detection is done. Using chromatography to separate out compounds for detection can be difficult if the chemical structures are too similar as the separation really depends on the differences in the compounds to get good chromatographic resolution.

The method uses 4-Heptanone as its internal standard to calculate the unknown Hexanal values in the customer samples. The instrument standards are made by the lab and are the internal standard with the addition of a known concentration of Hexanal. Those standards are used to create a single point calibration curve.

Each batch gets a quality controlled blank and IRM. The data tracked with each batch and IRM is its hexanal value result, response factors for its internal standard and Hexanal peak response value. This all shows that our instruments and standards are performing as expected.

Hexanal can be formed if the product’s packaging is not air-tight or if the packaging allows air exchange with the product. Air exchange with the sample will cause the product to oxidize and therefore cause the production of Hexanal.

The lab charts all data used in the calculation of the Hexanal result for an IRM for each batch. This helps the lab notice any trends occurring or if and standards were made incorrectly to cause out of scope results. Our instruments have maintenance programs in place that periodically check the performance of the instruments used for the Hexanal method.

Higher hexanal values indicate that a product is reaching the end of its shelf-life and therefore would not be acceptable to a consumer. What that actual value of Hexanal would be (like how many ppm) would likely depend on the type of product and the taste sensitivities of the consumer.